MoDiP: a collection of national importance

We are delighted to share with you that Arts Council England has awarded MoDiP’s collection Designated status[1]. Regular readers of this blog will be aware of MoDiP’s focus but may not realise its distinction. This award bestows on the collection national significance.  

The collection provides the world’s most comprehensive survey of how plastics have transformed the designed world, uniquely charting the development of design in plastics from natural plastics to 3D printed objects. There is no other collection which researches and engages with the impact of design in plastics on society so effectively and extensively. We are proud, as a result, to be recognised beside such esteemed historic and significant collections as those of The Pitt-Rivers Museum, Wellcome Trust, and Museum of London. Dr Nick Merriman, Chair of Arts Council England’s Designation panel, said: 

“I’m delighted that the scheme is recognising the outstanding collection at the Museum of Design in Plastics, which demonstrates the fundamental importance and impact of plastics in our world.” 

In recent years, discourse around plastics in the designed world has been divisive, being somewhat polarised by issues around overuse and sustainability. We often see plastics depicted as objects that leave an indelible and damaging impact on the natural world, and while that’s certainly something we need to address as a global community, the current pandemic will see more than 8 billion plastic vaccination syringes used across the world to counter the threat of COVID-19. Over the course of the pandemic and beyond, plastics have been crucial to saving lives and ensuring the safety of populations across the world. Intelligently used, they also play an important part in making the world more sustainable.

We understand that people see plastics from different points of view. Ours is that plastics, as a materials group, are valuable when used appropriately, while acknowledging the negative impact their poor use and disposal has on the environment and health. We also believe that lessons from the past can help manufacturers, designers, and consumers, indeed all of us, make better informed choices. For over 50 years more things and a greater variety of things have been made of plastics. Going plastics free is neither an option nor desirable.

Our hope is that this award will help us raise our voice and assist us in getting our message across; that it will strengthen our ability to influence opinion and policy in terms of both addressing plastics’ mismanagement and increasing understanding of their valuable potential when used responsibly.

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[1] The Designation Scheme identifies the pre-eminent collections of national importance held in England’s non-national museums, libraries and archives, based on their quality and significance.